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Memphis Recording Academy Honors

The night belonged to Knox Phillips, Irma Thomas, Willie Mitchell, and the MGs, who were feted by a full house of industry vets, including Ardent Records founder John Fry, former Stax executive Al Bell, authors Peter Guralnick and Robert Gordon, and musicians such as Aaron Neville, Angie Stone, Ann Peebles, Don Bryant, and John Prine.

The Memphis Flyer was founded on February 16, 1989, by Contemporary Media, Inc., publisher of Memphis magazine. With more than 222,000 regular readers, the Memphis Flyer is an urban newsweekly with a blend of hard news and features, and columns...

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Kereakes's new show turns a critical eye on "live fast, die young" L.A. musicians such as Germs frontman Darby Crash, who died of a drug overdose in 1980; AIDS casualties such as Black Randy (who founded West Coast art-punk group Metrosquad) and Lance Loud; and Jeffrey Lee Pierce, who died of a brain hemorrhage at 37.

Although they live and work in Brooklyn, Mark Heyner and Josh Kolenik had to get out of the city to record as Small Black. Last year, the duo holed up at Kolenik's uncle's house on Long Island, recording a handful of fuzzed-around-the-edges pop songs away from the diversions of the city.

One reason the Oblivians' two Memphis reunion shows feel more impressive than most is that it doesn't feel like musicians trying desperately to reclaim former glory. It was more like conquering heroes returning home: they return to a scene they've helped make bigger.

"This will be the first time in 10 years we've all played together," Snider says of his upcoming performance with the Original Nervous Wrecks. "We'll play mostly stuff off [my] last three records, but we'll do a few oldies and probably take some requests."